Peak 16
by Lapsed Judgment
Summary: As Binary Helix tried to revive the Rachni in their labs on Noveria's Peak 15, the Concordance Extraction Corporation began to analyze an ancient alien artifact they had transported to their facilities in nearby Peak 16. As both of these projects reached fruition, they would be unleashed on Noveria, and later on CEC's and Commander Shepard's investigations of the planet's fate...
1. Prologue: No Escape

**Lapsed Judgement owns neither Mass Effect nor Dead Space. They are both the property of EA. Lapsed Judgement seeks to make no monetary profit with the publishing of this fanfic.**

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Prologue: No Escape

-41 Days Prior to the Arrival of the SSV Normandy-

Slowly, Bel Anoleis' eyes cracked open, returning the Salarian to consciousness. Almost immediately the Salarian's face twisted into a grimace as he sensed the soreness in his arms and legs, and the crick in his neck from how he had slept. Despite these pains, Anoleis relaxed as he realized that he remained in his once-grand penthouse, and had not been dragged elsewhere while he slept.

Sitting up, Anoleis reached blindly at the ground to his right, searching for the pistol he had scavenged days ago. Initial fears dissipated as the Salarian felt the angular contours of the pistol, and Anoleis soon found the grip of the gun and brought it up, placing it onto his lap. Surveying his once-grand penthouse for changes, Anoleis' bleary eyes could find no disturbance of the room since he had fallen asleep, and with his immediate safety ensured the Salarian knew it was time to get moving.

Carefully standing up, Anoleis avoided the various strewn about pieces of art, furniture, and amenities that had once been immaculately placed throughout the room. Around him chairs and sofas had been ripped apart as though a wild animal had been let loose inside his penthouse, legs having been removed and upholstery torn to shreds, while various lamps and other devices had been knocked to the floor. The mechanical devices had been treaded on, stabbed through, clawed, bitten, and a number of other forms of violence had clearly been employed against them when Anoleis' room had been ransacked.

And of course, the irreplaceable would need to be replaced. With his position as Administrator on Noveria, Anoleis' pocket book had been well-lined by a mixture of his very good salary and some less-than-legal deals. The sculptures, paintings, and rare items that he had once admired had been put through the same treatment as the rest of his belongings, yet now Anoleis felt some disgust with himself for wasting his money on things that did nothing for his survival.

Stretching, Anoleis winced at the ache in his legs and arms. The pain in his neck had slowly left him as he had looked around his dimly lit apartment, but days of struggling for survival had left him a bit out of it. He was no security officer, he was a company bureaucrat, after all.

His stomach gurgling and the sense of dryness in his mouth turned Anoleis' attention from these things, however. Tapping his omnitool, Anoleis waited for the device to activate. Briefly the device glowed on his arm, and then faded out as it sputtered and died. Cursing under his breath, Anoleis decided to fill his basic needs, and with pistol in hand he made his way to the kitchen, carefully avoiding the minefield of objects strewn about.

Compared to the rest of the room the kitchen was dark, a product of the lights in the room having been torn apart. While much of it was still visible from the low-power lighting in the main living space, Anoleis still felt a rush of fear as he slowly walked inside. The counter provided an ideal hiding spot for someone who crouched or lay behind it, and in the last few days Anoleis had learned that ambush was how the creatures rampaging throughout the facility liked to catch their prey.

Stepping forward as quietly and slowly as possible, Anoleis brought up his pistol and aimed the weapon at the area behind the counter. Inching around slowly, Anoleis' heart raced as he tried to catch a glimpse of anything, be it a corpse, an abomination, or something else that may be occupying the space behind his kitchen counter. Finally, Anoleis found himself looking at an empty space between the counter and the wall, and he lowered his weapon and sighed in relief as nothing ill awaited him.

Stepping to the sink, the Salarian checked behind him for any disturbances before turning the water to cold and waiting for it to leave the spout. Not unlike his omintool, a few drops left the spout, and then there was nothing. Looking behind him once again, Anoleis froze as he thought he saw movement. As nothing else seemed to move or make noise, the Salarian soon returned to the inactive tap.

Turning the cold water setting to the maximum, Anoleis waited again, until finally something semi-solid left the sink, plopping to the ground in the middle of the metal drain. Leaning in, Anoleis peered at what had exited the spout. It was formless, like sludge, and even with the limited lighting Anoleis could make out what it was doing. It pulsed. Like a living being it pulsed, as though inside it was a lung pumping oxygen or some other gas in and out.

Backing away, Anoleis looked around for a light of some kind to better illuminate what he was seeing. Finding nothing immediately available for lighting, Anoleis went for another route and picked up a once-pristine towel from the floor. Wrapping it around his left hand, the Salarian picked up the deposit from the sink and brought it out into the living room. Bringing it up to one of the low-power overhead lights, Anoleis felt his heart sink as he realized what he was dealing with.

The pulsing object looked like a clump of dead flesh, a mix of mottled brown and pink with flecks of some unknown substance dotting its form. Before, Anoleis had seen it lining the walls of some of the facilities that had been overrun. For it to have come from the sink added a new dimension to the dead biomass he currently clutched in his towel-covered hand. The water supply on Noveria was useless now, consigning him to a slow, painful death at the best.

"No…." A single word escaped his cracked, dry lips, and Anoleis tossed away the dead flesh.

"Yes."

Anoleis whirled around, his pistol brought up in his shaking hand as he found himself face-to-face with Lorik Qui'in. The Turian sat casually on one of the two overturned couches behind Anoleis, watching the Salarian train his weapon on him without flinching or fear.

"You-you-you-" Anoleis stammered, gun continuing to shake despite having identified the source of the other voice in the room.

"Surprised to see me?" Qui-in asked, his smooth baritone voice contrasting with Anoleis' more high-pitched own.

"You're dead!" Anoleis finally got out, circling the Turian.

"Am I? Are you? You've seen things before that didn't happen, Administrator. Things that weren't real. Things that you were told were impossible. Certainly you don't trust your senses anymore?" Qui'in smoothly replied, his head and body turning to stay focused on Anoleis.

"No. Not like this. When you opened the gates, Qui'in, I saw what happened," Anoleis said, a little confidence regained.

The Turian sighed, and the two watched each other. Compared to Anoleis, Qui'in looked like he had lived in luxury for the past couple of days. His clothes were pressed and clean, unlike the wrinkled, dirty rags Anoleis wore. The Salarian was also dirty himself, thinning with dry skin, and looking like he had slept badly lately. They were opposites, the calm, collected Turian and the panicked, uncertain Salarian.

"Did you see yourself write those words on the wall?" Qui'in asked, pointing at one of the room's walls.

Anoleis turned away from the Turian and looked to the wall, his blood freezing as he realized what he was gazing at.

The wall had been marked in ink, graffiti lining it in Salarian, Asari, and an unknown alien script. Of the two scripts he could read, Anoleis found his handwriting all over a freakish mix of gibberish, pleas to deities across numerous cultures, and questions regarding his survival. And only moments ago Anoleis was certain that this wall had been lacking this writing.

"Not possible…. Not possible…" Anoleis muttered, and as turned again towards Qui'in he found himself shocked again. The Turian had disappeared.

"Very possible, Administrator. Perhaps it is time to accept that this world is no longer as you think it is," Qui'in's smooth voice came from behind again, and Anoleis turned again, pistol up, as he stared down the Turian.

"No."

"Yes. The dead walk. Your wealth useless. Your eyes are not telling the truth. Why do you fight so hard, Administrator? Why do you resist? There is a way to escape this world, but I'm not sure you're willing to do what is necessary," Qui'in shot back.

"I will do what I must to live!" Anoleis shrieked, his panic beginning to get the better of him.

"Then make us whole again, Administrator. You know what those words want you to do."

Looking down at his pistol, Anoleis thought long and hard for a time, and then looked back up at the unmoving Qui'in, who continued to fiercely gaze at the Salarian.

"You're sure?" Anoleis asked, defeated and dejected, as he relaxed his posture in resignation.

"Yes, Administrator. Make us whole again," Qui'in softly replied.

Bel Anoleis nodded, and shut his eyes tight. Bringing up his pistol to the side of his head, Anoleis took a few deep breaths as he steeled himself for what he was about to do. Escape seemed impossible, and with the water system out of commission he would be hard-pressed to find filtered water. With food being a less serious issue and the fact that he was seeing things working against him, perhaps it was time to finally surrender.

And so, the cold, metal muzzle of the pistol lay to the side of his brain, his finger on the trigger, and finally Anoleis gave in. The trigger was squeezed, and a single shot was fired as Bel Anoleis gave in and blew his brains out...


	2. Chapter 1: Into the Frozen Wastes

**Lapsed Judgement owns neither Mass Effect nor Dead Space. They are both the property of EA. Lapsed Judgement seeks to make no monetary profit with the publishing of this fanfic.**

 **Foreword: This fanfic deals with Noveria, and for obvious reasons I have taken some liberties with that planet and its facilities. Where possible, I have used Mass Effect and Dead Space as references for locations and other elements, especially with more canonical/canonically-derived moments.**

 **This fanfic details two parallel missions, occurring days apart. Each chapter will take place at a single point in time, focusing on one mission or the other. When a chapter takes place will be made clear at the top of each chapter.**

 **For Mass Effect canon, I have chosen to integrate the Mass Effect 1 and 2 weapons systems, and as such guns have limited-use built-in heat sinks and are designed to work best with thermal clip 'ammunition'.**

 **From Dead Space, Isaac has a role in this story. He will speak, but not particularly often nor for very long, as I preferred him as a silent protagonist in the first game to the voiced version that appeared in the sequels.**

 **Enjoy.**

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First _Name: Alice_

 _Last Name: Shepard_

 _Rank: Commander, Alliance Marines_

 _DOB: 2154/11/04_

 _Birthplace: Space, Arcturus System_

 _DOD: n/a (Currently Active)_

 _Bio:_ _Born into a naval family, Commander Shepard spent her childhood on ships and stations. She was moved from posting to posting as her parents were reassigned. Enlisted in the Alliance military on the day she turned eighteen._

 _While on shore leave at Elysium, Shepard was present when the first wave of the Skyllian Blitz struck. Shepard rallied the civilian inhabitants, leading them in their desperate fight to hold off the invaders. When enemy troops broke through the colony's defenses, Shepard single-handedly held them off and sealed the breach. After hours of brutal fighting, reinforcements finally arrived and the enemy broke ranks and fled. Because of her actions, Elysium was saved._

 _Currently the Commander is not available for major operations with the Alliance on account of having become the first human Spectre…_

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Chapter One: Into the Frozen Wastes

-0 Days to the Arrival of the SSV Normandy-

"Commander?"

The voice broke through the disjointed images flashing through Shepard's mind. The blurred images of strange shapes, nightmarish shadows, near-cityscapes, freakish figures, pulsing flesh, and mechanical outlines faded away as the commander returned to consciousness, her brief nap ended.

"Commander?"

Shepard was silent for a moment, not quite processing the voice coming from the ship's intercom, and she blinked away the sleep.

"Commander?"

"Yes, Joker. What is it?" Alice answered, her heartbeat slowing down as she found herself safe within her quarters aboard the Normandy.

"Finally!" the exasperated pilot said, Joker clearly a bit irritated at having had to call her so many times. "We're a little more than five minutes out from Noveria. Figured I'd wake you so you could get up here to check things out."

"Thanks, Joker. I'll be up in a bit," Alice replied, and her quarters became silent once again.

Despite the initial grogginess, Alice soon found herself feeling refreshed as she began to put on her armor, the auburn-haired woman covering her jumpsuit and flesh with a mixture of metal, ceramic plate, and a number of sensors and more sensitive equipment that would all contribute to her survival.

Going through the motions, Shepard thought back to the vision, puzzling it over for the umpteenth time. In the days since Eden Prime she still wasn't sure what the series of visuals she had received from the beacon were for, only that every time she fell asleep they appeared to her. Usually she barely recalled them when she awoke, but sometimes, like just now, she woke up with it fresh in her mind.

Sliding on her gloves and pulling her helmet over her bob-length hair, the Commander exited her quarters with a sense of purpose. To her left lay the armory, and the Commander would need her weapons before continuing to the upper deck. Neither a biotic nor a techie, the Commander selected not one or two weapons from the lockers on the Normandy, but instead chose four: a sniper rifle, an assault rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol.

Inspecting each weapon in turn, the Commander collapsed the guns as soon as she found them satisfactory and clipped them into place on her back. Upon reaching and confirming the pistol was fully loaded on Eezo and metal, the Commander holstered her pistol in a holster on her right, and took a moment to stretch a bit with the full weight of her weapons and armor on her body, getting used to the limitations that the armor came with in exchange for making Shepard hard to kill.

Now ready for duty, Alice left the armory area, walking past the elevator to engineering and up the walkway to the Normandy's main deck. Upon reaching the door that divided the deck from the walkway, Shepard's presence triggered the motion sensor and the door slid open, revealing the Normandy crew working away at their stations, whether Marines or Navy.

Stepping past the various Alliance personnel, Alice passed the ship's officer dais and the various terminals that managed the Normandy's systems until finally she found herself at the airlock and the pilot's station, a pair of windows providing her with a view of the Normandy's surroundings.

Darkness greeted her with the exception of a large white orb in the distance that grew in size with each passing second as the Normandy approached Noveria.

"Good timing, Commander," Jeff 'Joker' Moreau commented, the pilot working away at his controls every now and then as he adjusted the starship's course. "There's the great corporate icebox in the distance."

While usually not the happiest person alive when it came to Joker's sarcasm, for once the Commander was in full agreement with the pilot's remarks about Noveria. The Alliance files painted a picture of a planet that the Lioness of Elysium would gladly remove from the face of the galaxy if given the opportunity.

Noveria, a world where the corporations ran loose with their pet projects that would otherwise be intolerable in Citadel space. If her understanding was correct, Noveria was outside Citadel space, owned privately and leased out for companies interested in research and other projects too dangerous for consideration within the Citadel's jurisdiction, as well as illegal activities that were far from the public awareness, distant from prying eyes, and outside of Citadel jurisdiction.

On its own Noveria was a cold, harsh world that was not only low on resources but was also a nightmare for colonization, which had left it unclaimed for centuries until finally someone had figured out a purpose for the icy, mountainous planet.

"So, what are we doing here, Commander?" Joker asked, interrupting Shepard's train of thought.

"Saren probably had something set up on Noveria," Alice answered, her eyes fixated on the planet in the distance. "A lab space of some kind was leased to a company he and Benezia were very prominent in. Might be some clues there, not to mention the Matriarch herself was reported to have gone there."

"So we're here to check out Saren's weird science experiments and to work out Liara's parent problems?" Joker snidely asked, the question more rhetorical than serious.

"Who knows," Shepard said, leaning forward and putting her armored head beside Joker's as she tried to study the planet more.

The two were polar opposites. The tall, armored and athletic Shepard sharply contrasting with the skinny, short Joker who wore only his flightsuit and cap. Noveria began to take up more space in the viewports as the Normandy grew closer and closer, and Shepard cocked her head to the side a bit as she observed the planet.

"You get a bad feeling about these missions, Joker?" Alice asked, trying to untangle the odd feeling of dread she had in her stomach.

"Sure, a bit. Usually I crack some jokes and the bad feeling goes away," the pilot replied with a shrug.

"Hm. I don't know what it is, but I have a bad feeling about Noveria," Alice said, standing up straight again and retracting her upper body away from Joker.

"You'll be alright down there, Commander," Joker said, his voice devoid of its usual merriment as he tried to reassure Shepard.

"You sure?"

"Positive. Commander, you're a tough lady. Saren's Saturday science projects may be hard, but I know you're harder," Joker said, a smirk on his face as he looked up at the Commander.

Feeling a little better, Shepard gave a nod of thanks and watched as Joker began to move from space to just outside of Noveria's atmosphere.

"Strange," the pilot remarked aloud, frowning.

"What's going on?" Shepard asked, watching Joker's fingers dance across his instruments as she tried to pick up on what was bothering him.

"Weird readings from Noveria. No extranet communications of any kind, and a single short-range transmission are all I'm getting," Joker replied.

"Play the transmission," Shepard ordered.

Joker complied, tapping away and then playing the transmission over the local speakers. A garbled mess of interference and incomprehensible noise played for over a minute, Shepard's face trying to make sense of what was being played. Then, the noise stopped.

"Something's wrong."

"I got that, Commander. Odds are that was a distress beacon of some kind, but either it's damaged or someone is messing with the signal planetside," Joker said.

"Call my team up here."

Joker obeyed, relaying Shepard's order over the intercom to the motley collection of soldiers, mercenaries, and freelancers Shepard had recruited over the course of her pursuit of Saren.

"So, what now?" Joker asked.

"Where would we dock to reach Peak 15?" Shepard asked.

"Port Hanshan," Joker replied, tapping at the controls for a moment to get the answer.

"Take us in," Shepard ordered.

Joker made some adjustments and began to re-orient the ship as he prepared to enter Noveria's atmosphere. Gradually his tapping grew slower and slower until finally Shepard watched the Normandy begin to move forward, the vessel's engines propelling it forward towards the planetside.

"What's going on Commander?" Kaiden Alenko's raspy voice broke the almost silent cabin's monotony, and the Commander turned around to look at the Alliance Marine.

Behind Kaiden stood Garrus Vakarian, the former C-Sec officer looking over his sniper rifle and at times his eyes would flicker to focus on Shepard before returning to his weapon. Behind Kaiden and Garrus the rest of Shepard's team could be seen, walking down the deck towards the bridge as they answered the Commander's summons.

Urdnot Wrex, the gruff Krogan mercenary stalked forward in his blood red armor with a shotgun in his beefy hands. Ashley Williams, the feisty Alliance Marine who had survived Eden Prime. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, the Quarian hacker who had gotten the dirt Shepard had needed to implicate Saren in the attack on Eden Prime. Liara T'Soni, the somewhat naïve archaeologist whose biotic abilities and knowledge of the Protheans made her a valuable asset. Combined with Shepard herself, Garrus, and Kaiden they made for an odd bunch. Once the six team members had all made their way over to the bridge Shepard began to speak again.

"Something's come up on Noveria," Shepard said, finally answering Kaiden's question.

"Something?" Garrus asked, curious yet apprehensive.

"The only communications from the planet is a garbled signal that isn't designed for a long-range transmissions," Joker said, glancing over his shoulder and answering Garrus for Shepard before returning to his controls.

"Sounds like a trap," Wrex grunted, the scarred Krogan looking up at Shepard.

"Could be. Maybe something Saren was working on down here got loose, or Benezia cleaned house. Either way, we may have to go in hot," Shepard said.

Liara shrunk a bit at Shepard's remark, which the Commander noticed even if the group really didn't. She couldn't blame Liara, what with Benezia being her mother and the rather awkward estrangement that Liara had described to her.

"Who's going to be in the main shore party?" Tali asked, the Quarian tilting her ahead to the side as she asked Shepard.

"I'll be taking Kaiden and Liara in first, and the rest of you will follow afterwards," Shepard replied.

As the Normandy began to slow down after clearing the atmosphere, Shepard turned to watch Joker fly the ship. The peaks and snowfall were beautiful in their own quiet way, but at the same time there was a certain deadness to Noveria that seemed unnatural.

"Port Hanshan ground control, this is the SSV Normandy, please respond," Joker said, approaching one of the snowy world's main complexes. Five lined the planet's surface, placed in a rough line along the planet's equator, connected to the smaller mountain peak buildings by rough roads and underground trams.

No words greeted them as they approached the port, nor did any surface weapons fire. No other starships or aircraft came out to intercept their landing. As someone who had spent much of her life on spaceships, Shepard found it so odd that no one answered. Much like air travel, space travel was built on regulation and rules that were designed for the benefit of all parties, and one of those things was ground control always being alert.

"Port Hanshan ground control, this is the SSV Normandy, please respond," Joker said, trying again with a bit more forcefulness to his voice.

Again, silence was all that was there to greet them. Shepard leaned in towards Joker, watching the complex get closer and closer.

"Do a fly around, I want to check out the facility before we land," Shepard said.

The pilot complied, moving the Normandy away from a more direct course to an arcing turn around the facility. Shepard's eyes pored over the building, watching as Joker did his flyby. The place was dead as a tomb. Then, Shepard noticed something from the rooftop-movement of some kind.

"Joker!" Shepard warned.

Almost immediately warning sirens sounded as something impacted against the Normandy's kinetic barriers, rattling the ship slightly.

"Shit!"

Joker's exclamation did little to alleviate the situation as his fingers danced across the controls, the pilot changing the Normandy's course as he located the landing berths.

More shots slammed into the kinetic barriers as Joker was a whirlwind of activity, tapping and pressing as he attempted to find an open berth.

"Ground control, this is the SSV Normandy, cease fire immediately!" Joker said, all attempts at calmness gone from his voice.

Finally finding an open berth, Joker, cursed as a loud crack could be heard, the kinetic barriers finally having given way under sustained fire.

"We've got two engines down!" the pilot yelled.

"Can we still land safely?" Shepard asked, wondering if the premonitions she had had were right about this mission to Noveria.

"At this speed yes, but getting off-world is going to be a problem!" Joker answered.

The Normandy finally surged forward to one of the ovoid berths, the ship passing through the threshold as the automatic landing system engaged, holding the vessel in place as it docked.

Collectively everyone seemed to give a sigh of relief as a moment of reprieve came, and Shepard reached around for her assault rifle, the weapon expanding as its parts folded and slid out. A faint sound of machinery could be heard from to their left, the Normandy's airlock sliding outward to the dock outside. Eventually there was silence as the airlock finished its movements, linking up with the dock outside.

Dimly lit, lights flickering, Shepard noted that the berth was like an artificial cavern. The smoothly sculpted walls took away from the atmosphere, providing an artificiality that was a bit off-putting. No movement could be made out, nor could Alice see any soldiers or representatives of any kind entering the berth's dock. Either the corporates were really gutsy, or something very bad had happened here. To fire on an Alliance warship with a Council Spectre on board was a very dangerous thing to do.

"Joker, turn up our running lights. I want a full view of this place," Shepard ordered.

Two taps from Joker and the lights that ran across the Normandy began to increase in their intensity, shining brightly and casting light against the walls of the berth. With a better view of what lay ahead, Shepard noted the abandoned station that jutted slightly out of the wall. Time to knock on someone's doors.

"Send a message to the Alliance that we need assistance."

"No good, ma'am," one of the crewmembers at the terminals called out from behind her.

"Why not?" Shepard asked, apprehension entering her voice as she turned to look at the officer managing their communications.

"There's a lot of jamming going on, and I have no extranet connection at all. If we could destroy the jammer we could get a message out, but for now we're stuck with a communications blackout," the comms officer replied, continuing to tap away at her controls as she attempted to try other options.

"You jinxed us, Commander," Joker commented, and Shepard turned back around. "You shouldn't go around talking about bad luck."

Shepard gave a small smile at the pilot's attempt to lighten the mood before her face went back to its original stony expression. If their engines were badly damaged they could be stuck here until they could locate replacement materials from around the planet's facilities.

"How are our engines?" Shepard asked. Better to solve that problem so they could get off this icy rock rather than having to hunt for a jammer.

"Engines one and four were hit when their defense system opened up on us. Engine one looks like it took the worst of it, but four could probably be patched up with what we have on hand," another officer reported.

"Estimates on how long it will take?"

"At least a day and a half if we can't get any local help."

Shepard didn't like her options, but the situation could have been worse. A crash landing would have been a nightmare, especially considering the fact that the Normandy had been an expensive little ship. Getting raked over the coals by her Alliance superiors was something that she had no desire to experience.

"Commander, if you want to try and take a shore party out, I can supervise the crew during the basic repairs," First Officer Pressly said, the older Navy officer having made his way to the front of the ship behind Shepard's team.

"Excellent. Tali, would you mind giving them a hand with the repairs?" Shepard asked, turning to the Quarian.

Tali's suit made her facial expressions obscured, but the Quarian's body language suggested that she wasn't negatively reacting to the request. As a Quarian Shepard had no doubt that the hacker and mechanic would know her way around the ship's engines and repair, and could probably suggest a few tricks outside of the Alliance handbook.

"Of course, Shepard. I'd be happy to," Tali replied, the Quarian holstering her shotgun and turning back to the ship's interior.

"Garrus, Ashley, I want you two to stay here and keep them advised on security issues while I'm gone. I'll be taking the rest of the team with me while we try and figure out what happened in this place," Sheppard said.

Garrus gave a small nod of acknowledgement, but did not compact his sniper rifle. The look of displeasure on Ashley Williams' face, however, did not go unnoticed. Shepard made a mental note to talk to Ashley when she came back, as the Alliance Marine turned away and followed Tali back into the Normandy.

"Ready, Commander?" Kaiden asked, standing at attention as Shepard turned to the members of her slightly-larger than normal shore party.

"One more thing," the Commander said, and she looked at Joker. "Joker, keep us in contact whenever you can, and let me know if something fishy happens."

"Aye, aye Captain," Joker cheerily replied, giving a quick salute as he swiveled his chair around.

"Pressly, you're in command," Shepard said, and with that she led the shore party into the airlock.

The foursome waited for the ship to adjust the pressure of the ship to match more closely what it would feel like outside on Noveria. Seconds passed, the group shifting uncomfortably as their patience wore thin, and then finally the Normandy's computer noted that the shore party had left in the ship's log and the doors to the berth opened.

Cautiously, Shepard stepped outside, peeking around the corners of the airlock at the dock. Numerous small lights lined the guard walls and floor of the dock, flickering as a group or individually. A few did not glow at all, but thanks to the lighting from the Normandy's running lights they could still see, even if the brightness caused looming shadows to be cast everywhere.

"Still no one, let's go," Shepard said, and Wrex, Liara, and Kaiden quietly and solemnly followed her down the dock towards the customs station that lay in front of the Normandy's nose. Crates and equipment were haphazardly placed against the guard walls, a thin, powdery layer of snow on their tops.

"Keep an eye on the station up ahead," Shepard commanded, keeping her grip on the assault rifle she carried firm.

Almost immediately Liara trained her pistol on the station, the inexperienced Asari a bit nervous. The place was eerily quiet except for the howl of wind and snow outside the berth and the footsteps of the shore party, and Shepard hoped that sooner rather than later some form of life would show up and explain what was going on.

In the distance they could see across the open frames of the doors that ordinarily kept two connected berths separate. No signs of struggle could be seen as the doors lay wide open, as if beckoning the shore party to come hither and explore Noveria. The other berth was also occupied, Shepard noted, by what looked like a very small frigate. The other ship was dark except for the shining lights of the Normandy, for the small frigate had no running lights on its own.

"I don't like this," Kaiden said, the human nodding at the open doorframes.

Shepard agreed. A perfect place to set up drones or an explosive trap lay around the corner, and Alice had no intention of gambling with the lives of her team.

"Wrex, take point. Liara, I want you to be ready to put a stasis field around anything hostile around the corner. Kaiden and I will cover Wrex's angles," Shepard instructed.

Her team obeyed, re-orienting themselves in a diamond-shaped pattern. Wrex took the front, Shepard the left point, Liara the right, and Kaiden the rear, the four keeping their eyes peeled for any movement.

Wrex soon began to hug the wall, peeking around the corner for a glimpse of something, his finger on the trigger of his shotgun. Taking a deep breath, Shepard looked over at the Normandy for reassurance before nodding at Wrex and pointing for him to go forward.

The Krogan crossed the threshold of the doorway, looking back occasionally at the others as he prepared to turn left. Once they had positioned themselves Shepard gave a nod to Wrex. The Krogan peeked once, and then swung around the corner, shotgun raised. No lights, sirens, voices, or gunfire came from his direction, and the team moved in.

Another door that led deeper into the complex was also open, revealing a small atrium with stairs leading upward to another level. A deactivated fountain filled most of their vision, water still without the jets to disturb it.

"This is eerie," Liara remarked, and Shepard had to agree.

The dark facility, the open doors, and the absence of life were not going to lead to a good prognosis on Shepard's part. It was too clean thus far for pirates, and something like Noveria seemed too large to cover-up for any government or mercenary actors.

"Commander, come look at this."

Kaiden's voice interrupted Shepard and she walked over to where the Marine stood. Kaiden seemed to be looking down at something marked on the floor on the threshold of the door, difficult to see in the dimly lit room. Crouching down and squinting at the markings, Shepard noted that it resembled some sort of alien language. It wasn't random scribbles, or an alien script she recognized, but it followed conventions of spacing, repetition, and seemed to have a certain 'pattern' consistent throughout.

"This doesn't look like a language I've seen before," Shepard said.

Kaiden crouched down as well at this point, his eyebrow raised as he pored over the writing as well. Wrex and Liara also came over, taking their own looks. Wrex seemed more bored and nonchalant, while Liara's brow furrowed in thought as she analyzed what she was looking at.

"It doesn't resemble any of the Prothean writing I've ever seen," Liara noted, and she soon stood up straight again and stepped back.

Was it a warning? Shepard wasn't sure, but she didn't trust going further without more information. But there was something that she could examine before making a decision about going further: that other ship.

"What're we doing, Shepard?" Wrex gruffly asked.

"I don't trust going further for now. Let's see what we can learn from the ship on the other side of the berth," Shepard said.

Backing away from the threshold, Alice led the team to the other door that led to the other side of the dock. While originally Shepard had felt a bit concerned by the lack of lights and silence, she had somewhat gotten used to the environment. The relaxation of the others was also apparent as they became calmer and less jittery, though their eyes still flitted across the berth looking for some sign of activity, especially near the other starship.

The ship they were approaching was an ugly thing. Boxy, with what looked like a set of four engines welded to the back, the other ship in the berth seemed to be an ugly shade of brown with parts in gray as the Normandy's running lights illuminated it. It looked more like a glorified shuttle than a frigate, especially with the big boosters on its rear.

Turning right around the corner, Shepard and shore party swept their weapons around the various crates that littered the dock as they cautiously approached the darkened ship. Finding nothing, the shore party approached the other vessel without apprehension as they attempted to figure out what was going on. From their side the ship was darkened but not invisible, and the light from the Normandy gave some illumination to the vessel's frame.

"Everyone, bring up your omnitools," Shepard ordered, focusing on the ship.

A few taps against her forearm and Shepard's armored forearm was surrounded in glowing light, casting an orange-yellow glow around them. While not the brightest of light sources, the light from the omnitools still provided enough for them to get a better look at the side of the other ship.

"Check out these marks, Commander," Kaiden remarked, pointing to the jagged indentations on the hull that stood out almost immediately.

Running from the front of the ship all the way to the end of its upper starboard engine, the damage followed an almost straight diagonal line. Running her fingers along the line, Shepard suspected that this was the result of the same thing that had grounded the Normandy.

"Looks like damage from an anti-air mass accelerator cannon," Shepard remarked, voicing her thoughts on the source of the damage. "Seems like the hull was grazed."

Following the line to the front of the ship past its door, Shepard found two things of note: writing in Latin script, and an insignia that she was familiar with. Perhaps some digging would help her here.

Placing a hand to her helmet, Shepard opened up the short-range communications that let her contact the Normandy.

"Joker, I want you to open up the Alliance files for me. I want everything on the Concordance Extraction Corporation, and see if there's anything about a 'USG Kellion'."

Looking back down at the front, Shepard wondered where the CEC crew had gone…

* * *

 **I appreciate any and all Follows, Favorites and Reviews. Input is always welcome, so feel free to let me know about** **what was good and what was bad.**

 **Until chapter 2, thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 2: Cold Welcome

**Lapsed Judgement owns neither Mass Effect nor Dead Space. They are both the property of EA. Lapsed Judgement seeks to make no monetary profit with the publishing of this fanfic.**

 **Foreword: This fanfic deals with Noveria, and for obvious reasons I have taken some liberties with that planet and its facilities. Where possible, I have used Mass Effect and Dead Space as references for locations and other elements, especially with more canonical/canonically-derived moments.**

 **This fanfic details two parallel missions, occurring days apart. Each chapter will take place at a single point in time, focusing on one mission or the other. When a chapter takes place will be made clear at the top of each chapter.**

 **For Mass Effect canon, I have chosen to integrate the Mass Effect 1 and 2 weapons systems, and as such guns have limited-use built-in heat sinks and are designed to work best with thermal clip 'ammunition'.**

 **From Dead Space, Isaac has a role in this story. He will speak, but not particularly often nor for very long, as I preferred him as a silent protagonist in the first game to the voiced version that appeared in the sequels.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 ** _CEC Mission ER529_**

 _Status Update..._

 _USG Kellion en route to Pax System..._

 ** _Primary Mission Assets_**

 _...Zach Hammond-Chief Security Officer..._

 _...Isaac Clarke-Biotic, Engineering and Ship Systems Specialist..._

 _...Kendra Daniels-Biotic, Computer Specialist..._

 ** _Seconday Mission Assets_**

 _...USG Kellion-Wai Lao-Class Deep Space Shuttle..._

 _...Abdul Hadi-Security Officer..._

 _...Rodrigo Diaz-Security Officer..._

 ** _Directive A: Determine Fate of CEC Assets on Noveria_**

 ** _Directive B: Diagnose and Repair Communications Blackout_**

 ** _Directive C: Attempt to Determine the Fate of the Missing Mining Vessel USG Ishimura_**

* * *

Chapter Two: Cold Welcome

-5 Days Prior to the Arrival of the SSV Normandy-

The blonde woman in the hologram seemed worn down. Dejected. Beaten. Tired. Isaac knew that Nicole had seen better days, and without a doubt there was something wrong.

"Isaac, it's me. I wish I could talk to you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I wish I could just talk to someone...It's all falling apart here, I can't believe what's happening...it's strange...such a little thing..."

The hologram cut out, and Isaac sunk a bit in his seat. He had played the hologram in his free time so many times, analyzing it and poring over every moment in an effort to try and understand what was wrong with Nicole. The background looked like some generic facility, with no hints or clues as to what had happened. Nicole gave no clear explanation of the situation, merely discussing the fact that things had fallen apart.

And then, days after having been sent it, CEC had approached him. That job offer she had taken on Noveria, which had been something she herself had been unsure of, which he had encouraged her to take, seemed to have backfired. And if something terrible had happened to his girlfriend because of his encouragement, Isaac wondered if he would be ever able to get over the choice he had made.

"How many times have you watched that thing?"

Isaac shrugged in reply to Kendra's question, not answering the woman's question. The olive-skinned woman kept her gaze on him for a moment, cocking an eyebrow at his nonchalant response, before speaking again.

"Whatever. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to catch up later," Kendra said, turning away from him to look at the Kellion's viewport.

The deep space shuttle was currently hurtling towards the Pax System and Noveria. And in the distance the icy planet lay, at first a small dot that required Isaac to squint to differentiate it from the other specks of light in the distance, but soon enough Noveria became more visible.

"All of this trouble for the labs down there…" Kendra commented, slightly shaking her head as the Kellion gradually slowed its approach and Noveria began to dominate more of the viewport.

"Those labs, Ms. Daniels, contain valuable research and technology, not to mention there's the disappearance of a dreadnought-sized vessel like the Ishimura."

Isaac rolled his eyes as Zach Hammond replied to Kendra. The bald, dark-skinned security officer had laid his bait for Kendra, and now waited for her to react. Ever since they had been called together and put into a team, Hammond and Kendra had been at each other's throats. Hammond's practical style of leadership and seniority had instantly clashed with Kendra's more snappish, assertive efforts to take on some kind of commanding role within the group. To Isaac's surprise Kendra didn't respond, and instead continued to gaze at Noveria in the distance.

"Now, there we go," Hammond said, as the Kellion slowed to sublight speeds above the atmosphere.

"Where's the Ishimura?" Kendra asked, Isaac watching as she leaned in over Security Officer Hadi's chair, as she seemed to pore over the sights in front of them.

"Any signs of the Ishimura on the scanners?" Hammond asked.

"Negative sir, nothing's showing up except Noveria," Security Officer Diaz replied.

"In that case, Corporal, take us planetside and hail them," Hammond ordered.

"What about the Ishimura?" Kendra asked.

"Our main concern is the labs. Once we've finished things planetside we'll see if we can find our missing ship," Hammond said.

Kendra did not protest and instead simply nodded, stepping back as the two Corporals worked away at their controls, taking the shuttle planetside.

As the Kellion began to pass through the barrier between Noveria's surface and space, the ship began to heat up as it forced its way through the atmosphere like a knife. Isaac watched as Diaz and Hadi worked at their consoles from his seat, mentally hoping for some kind of response from the labs on the surface.

"Noveria Control, this is the emergency maintenance team of the USG Kellion responding to your silence. Please come in, Noveria control," Diaz said.

A strange mix of garbled information began to play over the speakers, causing Isaac to frown as he tried to figure out what was going on. Kendra paced back and forth for a moment, while Hammond put a hand on his chin as he frowned at what was playing.

"We may want to try and boost the signal," Kendra said.

"Agreed. Diaz, boost the signal," Hammond ordered.

No comprehensibility came, and instead the transmission only grew louder and a bit less garbled. With a second play through unsuccessful, Diaz cut the communication and looked back for orders while Hadi maneuvered the ship towards the facilities that Isaac had been told lay on the snowy surface.

"What is it?" Hadi asked.

"Sounds like a jammer or an encoder problem," Kendra said, and Isaac nodded in agreement at this assessment. "Get us down there and Isaac and I can deal with it. Seventy-two hours, max."

"Alright, you heard the lady," Hammond said. "Take us straight to a docking berth, Corporal."

The Kellion made its way over the mountain tops until it began to approach the white, honeycomb-like structure built into the side of one of Noveria's peaks that must have been the main facility. Isaac looked for activity in the structure, but its massive size and few windows made it difficult to tell whether what they were seeing was a bustling hub of corporate research or a silent tomb.

As the Kellion approached the berths, Hadi guided it around as he sought an open area. Finally finding one, the pilot and security officer guided the Kellion towards it. Then the trouble began as the Kellion was rocked by something, the impact moving the ship off-balance and tilted to its left.

"Sir, we just got hit by their surface defenses!" Diaz reported.

"Hadi, get us down there now!" Hammond ordered.

"Why are they firing at us!?" Kendra asked as the Kellion's warning sirens and lights blared and flashed.

"No idea, but they can shred the shields on this little ship with ease!" Hammond said.

The Kellion rushed forward as it sought the safety of the hollowed-out berth, the vessel yawing slightly to the left as it flew through the atmosphere. In moments the ship seemed to have fallen out of range, the Kellion dipping low and crossing the threshold that divided the berth's interior from the rugged, lifeless planetside of Noveria.

Slowing down, Hadi worked furiously at his controls as he attempted to try and get the ship to line up with the docking clamps in the berth. Eventually the Kellion was worked into position, and Hadi disengaged the engines as the clamp came down and attached to the shuttle. Collectively, the crew sighed in relief as their immediate safety returned, Isaac included.

"Is everyone OK?" Hammond asked, looking around at Isaac and the others.

Hadi could be heard cursing under his breath, while Diaz seemed to be at work at his console. Isaac nodded in Hammond's direction in reply.

"What were you thinking?" Kendra asked. "We almost got shot out of the sky!"

"This is the only way to complete the mission, Miss Daniels. Not to mention you would think with their communications offline they would be smart enough to turn off their automated defenses since they have no way to communicate with incoming ships," Hammond retorted. "Now settle down, and let's get to work."

Kendra and Hammond glared at each other for a moment before the bald security officer turned to Hadi and Diaz.

"Coporal, report."

"Starboard booster is offline, and I can't get any interface with the comms," Diaz replied. "We'll need some time to fix it all."

Isaac stood up at this, grabbing his helmet from the floor where he had secured it. Pulling it over his head, Isaac took a moment to get used to the equipment encasing his face. The RIG system that CEC provided for all its employees was practically a mixture of body armor and an EVA suit, something Isaac was grateful for in his line of work. The suit he wore was a bit old, with the gray jumpsuit and the brown, segmented plates showing signs of wear.

"Hang on Isaac, I'm syncing our RIGs."

Kendra tapped at her omnitool, working the yellow hologram for a few seconds before nodding at him.

"Thanks," Isaac said, stretching as much as the RIG allowed him.

"Alright, we're all synced and we've all got a clean bill of health. Let's get this over with," Kendra said.

The computer specialist walked to the rear of the Kellion and exited, Hammond, Hadi, and Diaz behind her. The security officers all took a moment to grab a collapsed assault rifle and pistol from the rack near the rear of the ship before exiting, holstering the pistols at their sides and opening up their rifles.

Isaac followed behind them, looking over the berth and dock that they had parked in. It was dark and shadowy, with the lights at the side of the guard walls flickering every now and then, but for the most part the facility seemed to be in decent shape.

Across the way another berth could be seen, though no vessels lay parked in it, and as Isaac stepped around the various crates and repair equipment he wondered why no one had come to greet them. The attempt to shoot them down had either been accidental or deliberate, and you would have expected whoever was on Noveria to come apologize or to come finish the job.

"We could've lost that whole booster," Kendra remarked, taking a jab at Hammond.

The security chief gave a dirty look at Kendra over his shoulder before continuing to follow Diaz and Hadi, who had taken the lead of the group. Rounding a corner, Isaac noted that oddly enough the door to the interior was unguarded and open, as if it were waiting for them to come inside. And still, no one seemed to be there to greet them.

"Isaac, come unlock this door," Hammond ordered, stepping aside for the engineer.

A closed door lay in front of them, the panel glowing red to indicate it was locked. Kneeling down, Isaac examined the panel. Tapping away for a moment, Isaac activated his omnitool and linked to the lock. In a few moments he found what he needed and sent a signal for the door to open, which caused the doors to part and slide away. Keeping it set on open permanently, Isaac stepped away and admired his handiwork.

"Good job," Hammond said, and the group walked through deeper into the facility.

The next room was also devoid of life, consisting of a lobby of sorts with a still fountain flanked by two bushes and two sets of stairs leading up. To their left and right a few terminals stood, looking like they hadn't been touched in some time. One would think that other visitors would be waiting there.

Following the security crew and Kendra up the stairs, Isaac and the others looked around at their surroundings. The facility's levels of light stayed constant throughout, a shadowy, dark environment that was dimly lit and sterile. Walking past a front-desk area, Isaac noted the deactivated terminals that were placed to the side.

"Hang on, let me see these," Kendra said, causing the group to stop as she turned one of the terminals around and activated it.

Tapping her omnitool, Kendra took some time to go through the data that she could bring up. Bored, Isaac returned to the raised balcony, looking back out at the berth. Hadi, Diaz, and Hammond all shifted from their boredom as they kept an eye out for anything behind him, while Kendra tapped away at the terminal and her omnitool.

"This is strange…" Kendra remarked, piquing Isaac's curiosity and causing him to turn around.

"What is it?" Diaz asked.

"The system is missing almost one hundred days of flight information," Kendra replied.

"It's gone?" Hammond asked, an eyebrow cocked in surprise.

"There's nothing. No incoming or outbound fights, no delivery data, nothing. Someone very thoroughly went through this stuff," Kendra explained.

"When's the last available day of information?" Hammond asked.

"There's information from ninety-seven days ago, and nothing afterwards," Kendra replied.

"If thing's have been going wrong for more than three months, we may have a big problem," Hammond noted. "Anything else of note?"

"Not that I can get out of this terminal," Kendra answered.

"Then let's keep moving," Hammond said.

Walking past the reception area, the crew turned left and walked down another short staircase and turned left again. A small elevator bay was all that awaited them, locked as well. Why had they locked themselves inside?

"Isaac?" Hammond asked, gesturing at the panel.

Once again Isaac got to work, opening up his omnitool and trying to operate the panel. Unlike before, where the door had been locked simply by a manual setting, the elevator was being shut out by the system. Isaac fiddled around for a few minutes before stepping back.

"What's wrong?" Kendra asked.

"It's locked by a quarantine order," Isaac explained.

"Quarantine?" Hammond asked.

"Perhaps that's why they had the cannons activated," Kendra remarked. "Nothing in, nothing out."

"But no warning to anybody?" Hammond asked, somewhat incredulous.

"Well, there seems to be some kind of transmission," Diaz offered.

"I see. Kendra, can you bypass the quarantine lockdown?" Hammond asked.

"I can try," the specialist replied, and she took Isaac's place at the door before activating her omnitool.

A few minutes later and Kendra stepped back with a smirk on her face, the red panel turning green as the doors opened for them to the elevator inside. Everyone filed into the small glass-and-steel chamber, Hadi pressing the button to take them upwards.

The pit in Isaac's stomach seemed to worsen due to the rising motion of the elevator, as his fears regarding Nicole seemed to worsen. No information for ninety-seven days. He had received the message from Nicole a month ago, and it had taken time for CEC to assemble the crew for the mission. Taking a few deep breaths, Isaac decided to hope for the best as the elevator slowed and came to a halt.

The door on the opposite side opened, and the Kellion crew filed out, looking around at the large atrium they had found themselves in. The lights on the wall were still at low power settings here, but it was still dim. However, the room was a bit brighter, owing to the sloped windows in the distance, but the room still had a dimness to it that could not be offset by the presence of the windows.

Stepping past a decorative plant, Isaac and the others all took a moment to look around the atrium. Directly ahead of them to the right was a small lounge of sorts, somewhat secluded through its glass and steel-frame walls. Looking over to the left, Isaac noted that they were on a small balcony, with stairs leading down past a fountain and more plants. Despite the efforts of the people here, the cold concrete, steel, and glass when coupled with Noveria's exterior gave a lifeless vibe. Especially without any people.

"Hello?" Hammond called out.

Silence was the only response the security chief got, the man frowning and somewhat nervously putting his finger on the trigger of his assault rifle. Had the Quarantine started here, and the various workers had fled to outlying labs? Yet the lack of bodies or information, or anything was so wrong and off-putting, and Isaac felt his hopes sink.

"Hammond, come look at this," Diaz said, pointing up at the ceiling in the distance.

Squinting through his suit's visor, Isaac tried to figure out what he was staring at until his eyes locked on a section of the ceiling where it looked like something had broken through the lights and tiles, and had dragged some of the wiring with it.

"Come on," Hammond said, beckoning for the others to follow him. They walked over cautiously, first making their way straight ahead from the elevator and then turning left down the stairs. Stopping at the landing, Hammond led them to the right across a small bridge over one of the sloped fountain and stopped once reaching the middle of the other side.

Above them the damage to the ceiling lay, the frayed edges of tile and the hanging wire ends dangling over them. Isaac squinted up for a sign of what the purpose of this area had been. Was it lighting? Power? Extranet? There was no way to tell what had been damaged here.

"This isn't explosives," Hadi remarked.

"Agreed, Corporal. The cables would have been destroyed as well. Looks more like something punched through the tiles," Hammond said.

"Punched through the tiles?" Kendra asked, backing up a bit.

"Drilled could also be accurate, but the edges of the tile aren't a neat perforation, not to mention I have no idea how you would get a drill of that size up into those shafts, Ms. Daniels," Hammond mused.

The Kellion crew took another moment to look over the damage, before their eyes turned from the ceiling back to what lay around them.

"Well, there's no one here. Where to, Chief?" Diaz asked, hefting his rifle.

"There's likely an administrator's officer nearby. We'll see if there's anything we can get from there, and then we'll make our way over to Peak 16 and the CEC Labs," Hammond answered.

Turning to the left, Hadi led them down another set of stairs to the final level, and then to the left again as they passed several large concrete dividers. Passing the dividers, a large stone wall and set of glass doors greeted them. In Isaac's opinion someone had spared no expense at making this place as grandiose and sterile as possible, and it did little to alleviate the rather dead atmosphere in the area.

Upon reaching the door Isaac was glad to see that the office was open as the door slid silently open, providing them with an open path inside. Once inside Isaac noted a small desk and chairs greeting them, but considering the openness and lack of privacy he doubted this was the Administrator's Office. Too open, even with the stone barrier directly behind it, and a place like Noveria probably had a rather lucrative corporate espionage industry.

"Someone did a number on that terminal," Kendra noted, pointing at the two halves of the computer that were left on the desk.

"Odd way to dispose of it," Isaac commented in agreement.

Passing the desk and looking at the other side of the barrier, Isaac noted that another door awaited them, this one with a lock on it. Fortunately the panel still glowed green, which meant that no hacking or working around with it would be needed to get access to the actual office they were looking for.

The Administrator's Office was as sterile as the last few rooms, only this time the place had been trashed. The desk had been slammed into the wall, and one of the plants had been knocked on its sided. No terminals, no papers, nothing with information that they could use could be seen.

"This is a dead end," Isaac remarked.

"I don't know Isaac. I'm beginning to wonder if we should go back to the Kellion rather than keep going," Kendra said.

"We have a job to do, Ms. Daniels. Stopping now means going back empty-handed, something CEC won't tolerate," Hammond replied.

Deep down Isaac wanted the mission to continue, though he was far less concerned about his job and more concerned about Nicole. Kendra at least had the fact that the whole facility was locked in Quarantine to support her view, but without any signs of warning, disease, or animals Isaac wondered why the facility was sealed like a crypt.

"Hammond, we violated quarantine. Someone put that up for a reason," Kendra argued.

"Peak 16 is only a tram ride away. All we have to do is go in, see what happened there, and get out after fixing up the Kellion," Hammond replied.

Kendra said nothing as she thought over the risks and the odds. Isaac, Hadi, and Diaz said nothing as they watched the two, neither for nor totally against leaving immediately. Eventually the tension was broken as Kendra sighed in surrender.

"Alright, fine. But if this spirals out of control Hammond it's all on you," Kendra said, admitting defeat and deferring to Hammond.

"Then let's go," Hammond said, the security chief leading the group out of the office and back out into the atrium. Following Hammond, Isaac and the others followed him over across the atrium to the area across from the Administrator's Office, and then to the left past a corridor marked 788 with an image of a car of some kind, which was most likely a garage. To the right of the garage entryway was another corridor, this one marked by a sign with an image resembling the front of a train and numbered 789.

"This should take us straight to the tram terminal that can access Peak 16," Hammond said, leading them through the corridor and down the stairs to the bottom.

"It's not a direct path?" Hadi asked.

"No, Peak 16 is serviced along with a few other labs at the same terminal that connects to this tram line," Hammond explained, looking back over his shoulder as he led them underground to the station.

Here things were even darker, as fewer lights and no windows did little to alleviate the gloom of the subway system. Spreading out, Isaac took a seat at a nearby waiting area, the cleanly carved stone providing a bench for those waiting for the tram. Locating a kiosk of some kind, Isaac watched as Kendra booted it up and began to tap away at the yellow hologram.

"Can we get a tram working?" Hammond asked, as he watched Kendra frown and her tapping begin to get more aggressive.

"Yes, but I have to override the quarantine lockdown, and there's something wrong with the return track," Kendra replied.

"What's wrong with the return track?" Hammond asked.

"Something's in the way, apparently," Kendra replied with a frown.

"We'll need to get rid of it before we can get back," Hammond noted.

A few minutes later and Kendra stepped back from the terminal, and stepped back from the kiosk. A few moments later and Isaac perked up as the rumble of the tram began to echo through the tunnel. Standing up, Isaac and the others lined up at the track, until finally with a rush of wind and the clattering of tram cars the tram pulled into the station. The doors slid open with a slight hiss, and Isaac, Hammond, Kendra, Hadi, and Diaz all stepped inside, scattering themselves around the tram. A few seconds later and the doors slid closed again, and the tram set off for the connecting terminal to Peak 16.

From his corner in the tram, Isaac passed the time by opening the hologram of Nicole, once again poring over its every detail. Nothing new jumped out at him, and Isaac closed it after two viewings to get his mind off his missing girlfriend. Nicole would be alright.

After several minutes Isaac could see some light in the distance, while the tram slowed down as its destination became more apparent. The Kellion crew all stopped whatever they had been doing to pass the time, preparing themselves for disembarking as the tram slowed to a halt at the station.

The doors slid open once again, and Isaac followed the others outside to the terminal that serviced Peak 16 and other labs. To their left was a wide cavern that extended outwards, with five tracks leading out to other locations. Over each track an orange sign indicated where the tram on that line ran, with an image of a mountain and the numbers fourteen through seventeen all marked.

To their right, a small service desk with its own terminal was abandoned, showing no signs of struggle or damage that they could see. Kendra moved to this quickly, booting up the terminal and trying to get any information out of the computer. Hammond in the meantime led Isaac over to the Peak 16 line, which still had a tram in place along with Peaks 14 and 17.

"Anything on that terminal?" Diaz asked.

"This one was scrubbed thoroughly as well. Nothing's here," Kendra said, displeased as she pushed the terminal away.

"Warning: Hazardous Anomaly Detected."

The group froze as the overhead lights went dark and the lights on the wall turned to an orange-ish yellow. Isaac and Hadi currently stood near the Peak 17 Tram, Diaz and Hammond near the tram to Peak 16, while Kendra was still close to the tram that they had entered from.

"What's going on?" Diaz asked, bringing his rifle up and activating the teal green laser sight on his weapon. The security officer backed away from Hammond, stepping past the others and the tracks as he approached the Peak 14 Tram as he searched the room.

"Calm down corporal. I don't think we're the anomaly, or the alarms would have activated sooner," Hammond said, the chief security officer scanning the room.

Isaac began to back up towards the tram, nervous and unsure of what was going on, while Hadi remained oblivious to what was going on. Kendra began to slowly make her way towards the other Kellion crew members as Isaac crossed into the tram, waiting for the others to join him. That's when Isaac heard the muffled sound of something being smashed, and a shadowy figure jumped down from the ceiling on top of Diaz. The man cried out as the figure landed on him, and Isaac watched in horror as the creature stabbed into the security officer with something resembling scythes at the end of its arms, which were shortly followed by screams of pain. The whine of a dead team member emanated from Isaac's RIG as Diaz's vitals went offline.

"Open fire!" Hammond bellowed, the man blasting at the creature with his own assault rifle, Hadi soon joining him from where he stood.

Kendra ran towards the trams in panic as she realized what was going on, everyone's eyes on the attacking creature until Isaac heard another crash from behind him. Another creature, this one much easier to glimpse came into view as Isaac whirled around, Hadi doing the same as he also heard the sound.

It was vaguely humanoid, looking fairly close to a human and not some other species as it charged Hadi, slamming the man down next to the door of the tram as it howled. Colored a mix of brown and pink, it looked like a human stripped of its skin and it almost looked like its arms had been carved into the shape of a pair of wicked sharp blades, which it stabbed down in a bid to kill Hadi, thankfully missing with both.

"Help!" Hadi cried, but Isaac stayed in place in fear. Without a weapon Isaac could do nothing as Hadi's rifle was batted away by the creature, and the man was forced to roll from side to side as it stabbed downward. Hammond in the meantime was at work with the creature that had killed Diaz, the thing dodging from side to side and using the walls to avoid the man's shots.

Kendra attempted to get onto the Peak 16 tram, but upon realizing that a struggle was going on she readied her biotics, preparing to try and Stasis the creature trying to kill Hadi. But she was too late as the creature finally found its mark, a blade-like forearm piercing the RIG and going through Hadi's stomach, the man howling in agony as the creature stabbed in and out. Yet despite this Hadi still managed to reach for his pistol, drawing the weapon and firing it at point blank into the creature's chest.

"Kendra, get that gun!" Hadi snarled, pointing at the assault rifle at the side giving another cry of pain as his chest was stabbed again.

Then, in a flash the creature's arms moved again, slicing Hadi's arm from his body and causing the security officer to scream as he was dismembered. Kendra finally put the creature in stasis, buying some time as Hammond backed up towards them.

"Isaac! Get out of here!" Hammond ordered, and Isaac complied as he scurried into the Peak 16 tram, making his way to the front of the vehicle and activating it. The doors hissing closed after a few seconds, and Isaac quickly found a seat before the vehicle really started moving. He watched as Kendra and Hammond fought their way towards the Peak 17 tram as his own ride sped away, and as the darkness consumed the tram Isaac heard another whine of death from his RIG. Hadi had most likely been finished off.

As the tram hurtled away, Isaac hoped none of those creatures would ambush him in the closed space…

* * *

 **I appreciate any and all Follows, Favorites and Reviews. Input is always welcome, so feel free to let me know about what was good and what was bad.**

 **Until chapter 3, thanks for reading.**


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